Accurate extrapolations of retention indices over the C1–C44 range in isothermal high resolution gas chromatography

A new accurate quadratic equation model for isothermal gas chromatography and its comparison with the linear model

The gas holdup time (tM) is a dominant parameter in gas chromatographic retention models. The difference equation (DE) model proposed by Wu et al. (J. Chromatogr. A 2012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2012.07.077) excluded t(M). In the present paper, we propose that the relationship between the adjusted retention time t'RZ and carbon number z of n-alkanes follows a quadratic equation (QE) when an accurate tM is obtained. This QE model is the same as or better than the DE model for an accurate expression of the retention behavior of n-alkanes and model applications. The QE model covers a larger range of n-alkanes with better curve fittings than the linear model. The accuracy of the QE model was approximately 2-6 times better than the DE model and 18-540 times better than the LE model. Standard deviations of the QE model were approximately 2-3 times smaller than those of the DE model.

Difference equation model for isothermal gas chromatography expresses retention behavior of homologues of n-alkanes excluding the influence of holdup time

A difference equation (DE) model is developed using the methylene retention increment (Δtz) of n-alkanes to avoid the influence of gas holdup time (tM). The effects of the equation orders (1st-5th) on the accuracy of a curve fitting show that a linear equation (LE) is less satisfactory and it is not necessary to use a complicated cubic or higher order equation. The relationship between the logarithm of Δtz and the carbon number (z) of the n-alkanes under isothermal conditions closely follows the quadratic equation for C3-C30n-alkanes at column temperatures of 24-260 °C. The first and second order forward differences of the expression (Δlog Δtz and Δ2log Δtz, respectively) are linear and constant, respectively, which validates the DE model. This DE model lays a necessary foundation for further developing a retention model to accurately describe the relationship between the adjusted retention time and z of n-alkanes.

Reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated dioxins by an anaerobic bacterium

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs and PCDFs) are among the most notorious environmental pollutants. Some congeners, particularly those with lateral chlorine substitutions at positions 2, 3, 7 and 8, are extremely toxic and carcinogenic to humans. One particularly promising mechanism for the detoxification of PCDDs and PCDFs is microbial reductive dechlorination. So far only a limited number of phylogenetically diverse anaerobic bacteria have been found that couple the reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated compounds--the substitution of a chlorine for a hydrogen atom--to energy conservation and growth in a process called dehalorespiration. Microbial dechlorination of PCDDs occurs in sediments and anaerobic mixed cultures from sediments, but the responsible organisms have not yet been identified or isolated. Here we show the presence of a Dehalococcoides species in four dioxin-dechlorinating enrichment cultures from a freshwater sediment highly contaminated with PCDDs and PCDFs. We also show that the previously described chlorobenzene-dehalorespiring bacterium Dehalococcoides sp. strain CBDB1 (ref. 3) is able to reductively dechlorinate selected dioxin congeners. Reductive dechlorination of 1,2,3,7,8-pentachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (PeCDD) demonstrates that environmentally significant dioxins are attacked by this bacterium.